According to imdb.com, Tim Burton is readying a remake of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.

Cult movie maker Tim Burton is struggling to cast a Willy Wonka for his upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl novel Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - he can't decided between two of his favorite leading men. Both Christopher Walken - who worked with Burton in Sleepy Hollow and Batman Returns - and Michael Keaton - his star in two Batman films and Beetlejuice - are reportedly in the running. So far no names are attached to the picture, which is due to begin filming next year for a 2005 release.

In my mind, the obvious choice is Walken as Wonka...by God, that would get me into the theatre right there. Why not try to get the best of both worlds, however? Get Keaton (or even better, Johnny Depp) as Wonka, and Walken as Grandpa Joe. Pure. Hilarity.

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Originally posted by Big BadAccording to imdb.com, Tim Burton is readying a remake of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

Why can't he just leave the original the hell alone and try an original idea?

Because Burton wants to do a film truer to the book, which Willy Wonka was not. This one won't be a happy musical, I assume.

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

It requires a certain amount of balls to declare you're going to do a movie that's closer to the book when it was Roald Dahl himself who wrote the original screenplay.

"next to of course god america ilove you land of the pilgrims' and so forth ohsay can you see by the dawn's early mycountry tis of centuries come and goand are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumbthy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorryby jingo by gee by gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more beaut-iful than these heroic happy deadwho rushed like lions to the roaring slaughterthey did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

Michael Keaton would be my choice to play Willie Wonka. Not just because he's great at playing the wacky insane super-genius who lives to watch kids suffer ironic deaths, but also because he's been screwed ever since he bailed on the Batman franchise and is due for a comeback. He was great in Jackie Brown, but after that, he did that stupid snowman movie.

I do like the scenario with Keaton as Wonka, Walken as Grandpa Joe.

Mr. Mom rules.

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I agree. Don't touch it. Burton is lousy at remakes. I'm still washing the stink of Planet of the Apes off of me.

Why doesn't he just make "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator"?

I'm sort of curious about a "darker" Willy Wonka, but for my money there is no scarier scene in a kid's movie than the boat trip from the original. I just watched it with my 4-year-old niece on Tuesday and she got freaked during that part. (And she watched "13 Ghosts" without flinching. And no, I wasn't the one that let her watch it.)

Best line from the original:"I am now telling the computer exactly what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate!"

"It requires a certain amount of balls to declare you're going to do a movie that's closer to the book when it was Roald Dahl himself who wrote the original screenplay."

....and yet he despised the version when it actually hit theatres. face it, the gene Wilder Wonka might be good for rosy-coloured memories, but it could do with some Burtonisation. Dahl's book is SO much darker and nastier in places; of course, Jonny Depp should be Wonka.

Oh, and the best part of the original was:

"Do you know what this is?"

"No."

"No, of course you don't, because then you'd be teaching me. And for a pupil to teach his teacher is presumptuous and rude. Pencils ready!"

The story about J-Loblanca is the most frightening document I've ever read.

Re: Planet of the Apes. Burton was pretty much a hired gun on that project; the film doesn't even look like a "Tim Burton" movie stylistically. I believe he's even said in interviews that he took the PotA job in order to get financing for his movie Big Fish, which comes out in the winter.

Over 1700 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day! But I'm not bitter!

Q: If you could have one superpower -- the strength of 100 men, invisibility, or the ability to fly -- which would you choose and why?

Michael Vick: Oh man, invisibility. If I was in a bad situation or something or I said something or you know, caught with two girls I could just disappear. I could be gone just like that -- no trouble.

"I don't understand the creative process. Actually, I make a concerted effort not to understand it. I don't know what it is or how it works but I am terrified that one green morning it will decide not to work anymore, so I have always given it as wide a bypass as possible."-- William Goldman

I just want to point something out. Nearly every remake, re-imagining, or "re-adaptation" as it were of a classic film has sucked and bombed quite badly. So to me it looks like Hollywood just has to learn this the hard way like they did with their lame ass reality movies.

Originally posted by The Vile1I just want to point something out. Nearly every remake, re-imagining, or "re-adaptation" as it were of a classic film has sucked and bombed quite badly. So to me it looks like Hollywood just has to learn this the hard way like they did with their lame ass reality movies.

Yeah, and it took just one movie (Real Cancun) to teach them that lesson. Yet, why do they keep churning out remakes?

Speaking of remakes, i just saw the ad for SWAT. Man, does that look bad! Explosions, cheesy lines (and I mean textbook action thriller cliches) , and the cops singing the old TV show theme. Yay!